It’s not what you can do, it’s what you will do

We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. Yet it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents as well. –Bruce Lee

The difference between success and failure has nothing to do with what we can do and everything to do with what we will do. This is nowhere more true than in sales.

Will You?

You can make the calls necessary to open the relationships to make quota. Will you make the calls? You can get up half an hour early to read and improve your business acumen, increasing your ability and effectiveness as a salesperson and as a businessperson. Will you get up a half an hour early? You can find a way to reengage that stalled prospect and reopen the opportunity to create something extraordinary for them and for you. Will you summon your resourcefulness, your creative genius, to reengage them? Will you take action?

It’s not hard to figure out what you can do. Look around. Other people are doing the things I mentioned above (and much more). If they can do it, you can do it. The difference between success and failure is found in the will.

Conclusion

Successful people in all endeavors are possessed with an “intense desire.” It isn’t that they always have the talent. More often than not, it is simply that they have the will to take the little actions every day that less successful people aren’t willing to take. Those little actions taken daily eventually turn into talent, and they lead to the ability to identify and capitalize on the opportunities that develop.

It is the accumulation of those little actions, taken daily over the course of time, that makes the difference between success and failure. It is their “will” that makes the difference.

Questions

As you approach 2010, there is not better time to reflect on the hard questions (take the time and make the lists):

What are the actions you will take to experience greater success, to develop yourself personally?

What are the actions you will take as a professional salesperson and business person to experience greater success?

What are the actions you will take to create more value for your customers, your prospects, and your company?

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